Military children honored at library story time

Aiden and Brandon Suelflow were the guests of honor at the April 13 story time at Custer County Library. April has been proclaimed the Month of the Military Child in South Dakota by Gov. Daugaard.  

On April 13, citizens of South Dakota were encouraged to wear purple to show support for military kids and to honor and thank them for their sacrifices. The local 4-H/Youth program advisor, Brad Keizer, teamed up with library director, Doris Ann Mertz, to provide a story time focused on honoring military kids.

Aiden and Brandon’s dad, Dean, is a Blackhawk helicopter pilot with the South Dakota National Guard who was deployed June 1, 2011.  He spent half of his deployment in Iraq flying people with medical emergencies to base hospitals throughout the country.  He has been in Kuwait since the end of December and is expected to be home by June 1.

Seven-year-old Aiden explained to the kids at story time that they try to talk with their dad via Skype on Saturdays. It is hard for them to talk often because of the 10-hour time difference; it is nighttime in Kuwait while it is daytime in Custer.  One of the books the story-time group enjoyed on this day was “Night Catch,” written by Brenda Ehrmantraut of Aberdeen, about a soldier and his son who toss the North Star back and forth during the father’s deployment.